Sunday, April 15, 2007

Web 2.0 and scholarly publishing in DC

The Allen Press' Emerging Trends in Scholarly Publishing seminar (held last week in Washington, D.C.) focussed on the practical uses and application of social software in scientific, medical and technological domains - but also the real and possible social impact of Web 2.0 tools. Prominent ideas for me? egalitarianism in publishing and peer review vs. reconciling the need for viable business models and maintaining efficiency and high standards in publishing. See my thoughts in progress about Web 2.0 and medicine.

Two of the speakers, Richard Akerman, the only other Canadian, and Konrad Förstner, are bloggers - check out their posts. A number of medical publishers were in attendance such as the New England Journal of Medicine, and several association publishers, who expressed interest in the launch of Open Medicine.